,7- n qf* 



\ '■ "- * 






:■' 5;hl:r 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Chap. Copyright No. 

Shelt^Wj^ 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




rev. g. a. Mclaughlin. 



A Living Sacrifice 






V> p . BY 

Rev. G. A. McLAUGHLIN, 

Author of "Old Wine in New Bottles" "Inbred Sin" 

" Wesley Birthday Book," "Commentary on St. Luke" 

"Commentary on St. John." 



BOSTON: 

CHRISTIAN WITNESS COMPANY, 

36 Bromfield Street. 

1899. 



s<1 



fef 



^>><\ 



39448 

Copyright, 1899, 
By f«E CHRISTIAN WITNESS CO 

TWO CO*J*r *tQ€4|£&. 







CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER I. 
What is Consecration ? 7 

CHAPTER II. 
Who Consecrates? 16 

CHAPTER III. 
Completely and Entirely 22 

CHAPTER IV. 
Completed Once for All 29 

CHAPTER V. 
Not to the Church. 36 

CHAPTER VI. 
More than for Service 44 

CHAPTER VII. 
Not to Our Feelings 52 

CHAPTER VIII. 
With Certainty 58 

CHAPTER IX. 
For a Purpose 64 

CHAPTER X. 
Why should We Consecrate? 69 



PKEFACE. 

A few months ago a brother came to the 
writer and asked him for some book treating 
upon certain phases of the subject of conse- 
cration. The writer began to look over the 
lists of books with which he was familiar. He 
found a large and rich abundance of works 
on holiness, but was unable to find any cover- 
ing some of the vital phases of consecration. 

Because many have denied the divine will- 
ingness or ability to cleanse the heart from 
all sin, and because others have glorified con- 
secration as an excuse for not obtaining entire 
sanctification, most writers have given their 
especial attention to a discussion and defence 
of the divine side — holiness. 

Therefore the writer has sought to show 
the human side, in a practical manner, in or- 
der to make the way plain to inquiring souls, 
who long to enter into "the fulness of the 
blessing of the gospel of Christ." 



b PREFACE. 

Others could have done it better, but as 
they have writteii little upon these phases of 
the question, the writer has endeavored to 
pioneer the way for the elaborate road-build- 
er who ought to follow with greater breadth 
and length. 

g. a. Mclaughlin. 



CHAPTEE I. 

WHAT IS CONSECRATION? 

Consecration is the duty of man. Sanctifi- 
cation is the work of God. Neither of these 
two parties can do the work of the other. 
God, having endowed man with a free will, 
cannot contradict himself, by compelling 
human actions. Nor would there be any 
merit in man's actions if he were compelled. 
Hence God cannot consecrate us nor can he 
consecrate for us. Consecration is the free 
act of man. Since man is feeble and sin- 
tainted and has always failed in his efforts to 
cleanse himself from sin, since he has not the 
power to make his heart pure, only his Maker 
can purify his nature. One who could create 
such a being as man can certainly make him 
right again after he has fallen. Therefore 
God can sanctify the nature of man. These 
two facts kept before the mind will simplify 
and clear up much of the confusion that has 



8 WHAT IS CONSECRATION? 

been thrown around this subject. Man con- 
secrates. God sanctifies. Most of the misun- 
derstanding and false teaching on this subject 
originate right here. Some are expecting God 
to do their part, and others are endeavoring 
to do the divine part themselves. Some think 
God will consecrate them. Hence they are 
singing the language of a well-known hymn, 

" Consecrate me now to thy service, Lord, 
By the power of grace divine." 

But God will do nothing of the kind. He 
will neither repent for the sinner, nor conse- 
crate for the saint. He never does for us 
what we can do for ourselves. Wherever con- 
secration is spoken of in the word of God, it 
is always declared to be the act of man — not 
the work of God. There are others who try 
to take the work of God out of his hands. As 
the result we have a great many people who 
are trying to sanctify themselves. This gives 
rise to the theory of sanctification by culture, 
growth, etc. God says, "present your bodies 
a living sacrifice," "yield your members as in- 
struments of righteousness as those that are 



WHAT IS CONSECRATION f \) 

alive from the dead." But he never indi- 
cates that he will present our bodies or yield 
our members for us. We must do that. It 
is true that a struggling soul, seeking to get 
the consent of his will, may ask God to assist 
him, and give him strength not to falter until 
the work is done, but he — not God — must 
perform the act of consecration. When man 
has done his part and consecrated himself to 
God entirely, then God does his part and 
entirely sanctifies the entirely consecrated 
man. 

The Bible employs the marriage covenant 
as a symbol and illustration of consecration. 
Jesus Christ is represented as the bridegroom 
and his people are the bride. In this and all 
true marriage covenants the parties give 
themselves entirely to each other. All attach- 
ments that in anyway hinder the affection or 
duty of each to the other are forever sun- 
dered. All other suitors are forever dis- 
carded. The bride covenants to become the 
property of the groom. This is precisely the 
case in entire consecration. The believer 
separates himself entirely from every thing or 



10 WHAT IS CONSECRATION? 

person that hinders his attachment for and 
duty to Jesus Christ. And Jesus gave him- 
self up entirely to and for his people : "Christ 
loved the Church and gave himself for it." 
When this covenant is truly made by the be- 
liever, God keeps his part of the covenant and 
cleanses the soul from all sin. We are met 
by the objection that it is impossible to con- 
secrate ourselves entirely to God. But such 
an objection is absurd. If a bridegroom and 
bride can give themselves up to each other 
to be loyal and true, we can as really and truly 
give ourselves to God. If a soldier can take 
the oath of allegiance to the government, 
promising to be strictly obedient, to bear and 
suffer and endure whatever his superiors com- 
mand, and rush into danger at the command 
of an officer who is liable to make mistakes 
and needlessly expose him to peril, and all 
because he has implicit confidence in the gov- 
ernment, much more can we give ourselves 
into the hands of Him who never makes mis- 
takes and who always knows what is best for 
'us. We can do this if we believe in the divine 
government as truly as the soldier believes in 



WHAT IS CONSECRATION? 11 

his country. And if we love our God as truly 
as a patriot loves his country we will devote 
ourselves entirely to Him. What we can do 
for men, we can more easily do for God, be- 
cause he promises us divine power to enable 
us to do it. The government furnishes arms, 
ammunition, clothing, food, etc., in order to 
make the consecration of the soldier effective. 
And God furnishes the spiritual equipment 
to make our consecration not only possible but 
gloriously successful. It is time that conse- 
cration be taken out of the realm of the 
awfully mysterious and shown to be a glorious 
privilege which a loving child longs to em- 
brace. The subject has been represented as 
an awful thing even to think of, still more to 
accomplish. It ought to be just the reverse. 
We once heard a preacher at the close of an 
altar service when his people were seeking to 
be wholly given up to God, say, "You have 
done a very solemn thing to-day." To our 
minds, it would have been more solemn if 
they had refused to give themselves entirely 
to God. 

Consecration is what we would do if it were 



12 WHAT IS CONSECRATION? 

the last day of our lives. If you knew posi- 
tively that before to-morrow morning you 
would be in eternity, you would as a true 
Christian resign yourself wholly to the will of 
God. The language of your heart if not of 
your lips would be, "Into thy hands, Lord, I 
resign my spirit. I let go my grasp upon 
everything in this world." All those who 
get to heaven will have to be thus resigned to 
the will of God the last day of life. Now 
what a person ought to be the last day of life, 
he ought to be every day, Will any one 
then maintain that we ought to be anything 
else every day? Who knows that he will live 
all of any one day? If sudden death would 
be sudden glory, it will take place only in the 
experience of those wholly given to God. 
There is no excuse then for failing to be en- 
tirely consecrated to God every moment. 
Whatever we ought to be we can be. We ought 
to be wholly the Lord's every moment, and as 
we ought to be, we can be. Impossibilities 
are not required. We had a friend many 
years ago, who had a clear conversion, but 
was honestly perplexed over the subjects of 



WHAT IS CONSECRATION? 13 

consecration and sanctification. She was 
prostrated on a bed of sickness. The physi- 
cian declared she must die and advised her 
husband to inform her of the fact. He en- 
tered the chamber and announced the sad in- 
telligence, "The doctor says you cannot get 
well." Just then the door-bell rang and he 
went out of the room to answer the summons. 
Parties had come on urgent business, detain- 
ing him for quite a length of time. This an- 
nouncement came as a great shock to the suf- 
ferer who had expected to recover. She ques- 
tioned, "Must I give up my husband and my 
friends? What will become of them when 
I am- gone?" Then the thought arose, "God 
is taking care of them now and can take care 
of them just as well when I am gone." There 
was a great struggle of soul for a few minutes 
and then she yielded herself and all she pos- 
sessed entirely to God. "Instantly," as she 
afterwards testified, "I felt as light as a 
feather." This was the beginni:q.g of a richer 
experience than she had ever known before. 
She did not die. The doctor was mistaken. 
The writer visited her a few months later and 



14 WHAT IS CONSECRATION? 

she said, "I see now what you mean. We can- 
not carry the Lord in one hand and the world 
in the other." Here was. an instance of entire 
consecration, by doing as if it were the last 
day of life. This is the secret of the trium- 
phant deathbeds of many of the saints who 
had never heard the subjects of sanctification 
or justification definitely treated, yet who 
really consecrated themselves to God in the 
dying hour. Many sons and daughters have 
witnessed these deathbed scenes and asked 
themselves the question, "Why was not 
father as much given up to God every day 
as that last day?" Sure enough! Why not! 
Make the covenant with God to-day, reader! 
Make it regardless of your feelings! make it 
as you do a contract with any one in whom 
you have confidence in the business world! 
Make it whether God blesses you or not! If 
you will begin to do as you would if you knew 
it to be the last day of your life you will be- 
come entirely consecrated. A little boy once 
went to a camp meeting. As his mother was 
putting him to bed, he heard a noise in an 
adjacent tent. He asked what it was and his 



WHAT IS CONSECRATION? 15 

mother responded, "It is a man praying, and 
I judge by the way he prays that he wants to 
be wholly given up to the Lord." The little 
boy replied, "Why don't he then, mother?" 
We ask the same question of the many who 
say they want to be the Lord's, " Why not ?" 



CHAPTEK II. 

WHO CONSECRATES? 

It is sometimes asserted, "I consecrated my- 
self to God at the time I was converted." 
This statement is sometimes sincerely made, 
but it is incorrect. No person who knows the 
scriptural definition of the term consecration 
will make such an assertion. Consecration is 
an act which can be performed only by a child 
of God-. Take a reference Bible and turn to 
the passages that contain the words consecra- 
tion, consecrate and their cognates and in the 
margin, in most instances, will be found the 
translation, to fill the hand. This refers to the 
method of consecration under the old dis- 
pensation. The worshipper came to the tem- 
ple with his hands filled with something good 
to be used in the service of God — a sheaf of 
wheat, some of the fruits of the earth. Or he 
led a lamb, a goat, a heifer or a bullock. He 
solemnly laid his hands upon the victim and 

16 



WHO CONSECRATES? 17 

set it apart for the service of God and his 
sanctuary. He always brought something 
good for use in the service of God. This is 
what Paul means when he says, "Your bodies 
a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God." 
God will accept nothing that is not good as a 
sacrifice to His service. A sinner cannot 
offer such a sacrifice, because he is "dead in 
trespasses and sins." He must be made alive 
by being born again before he can offer "a 
living sacrifice." He has nothing to give but 
his sins. And God has no use for them. How 
can a dead man offer himself, a living sacri- 
fice ! He must forsake his sins by repentance, 
and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Then 
he is born of God — made alive from the dead 
— and is in a condition to offer a living sacri- 
fice. We hear men sometimes tell of giving 
their sins — -their whiskey, tobacco, etc. — to 
God. How absurd! All sinful things are to 
be put away. They will do to burn on the 
devil's altar but not on the altar of God. The 
little slave girl in the days of oppression was 
ransomed from the auctioneer's block by a 
kind-hearted man. She fell at his feet ex- 



18 WHO CONSECRATES? 

claiming, "I will serve you all my life." She 
had been redeemed and then she consecrated 
to his service her redeemed powers. It is only 
redeemed men that have anything to conse- 
crate. The sinner repents. The child of God 
consecrates. How absurd that hymn, 

ki All my doubts I give to Jesus." 

He has no use for our doubts. Let them go 
where they belong. They had their origin 
with the devil. A sinner is never commanded 
to consecrate in all the word of God. The 
constant command to him is, "Repent." A 
reference to the word of God shows that con- 
secration is commanded to the children of 
God only. In Paul's great exhortation to 
consecration he says (Rom. xii. 1), "I beseech 
you, therefore, brethren." He beseeches not 
the unconverted, but the brethren to entirely 
consecrate. The epistle to the Romans was 
written to the church at Rome. In Rom. vi. 
13, he repeats the same thought, "yield your- 
selves unto God, as those that are alive from 
the dead, and your members as instruments of 



WHO CONSECRATES? 19 

righteousness unto God." Here the com- 
mand to consecrate is given to those "that are 
alive from the dead/' and not to unconverted 
men. If we keep this distinction in our minds, 
— repentance for the sinner, consecration for 
the child of God, — we shall avoid a fatal con- 
fusion that has hindered some good people. 
We must remember that every sinner is a 
rebel against the kingdom of heaven. And 
his first duty is to throw dow T n his weapons of 
rebellion — in other words, repent. When 
people undertake to assert that repentance and 
consecration are the same thing, they are 
driven to some very absurd conclusions. We 
once met a brother who, in order to find an 
excuse for refusing to entirely consecrate him- 
self to God, maintained stoutly that he was 
entirely consecrated to God before he was con- 
verted. If that was true, then he was a con- 
secrated sinner, which is absurd. We once 
heard of a church that began a protracted 
meeting. For three nights the converted peo- 
ple were urged to come to the altar and con- 
secrate themselves to God. Having started 
the meeting in this manner, the rest of the 



20 WHO CONSECRATES? 

effort was an invitation to the unconverted to 
come to the altar and consecrate themselves 
to God. Both parties were exhorted to do the 
same thing and confusion settled down upon 
the minds of the people. Sinners inquired 
as to whether the church was unconverted, 
and Christians resented being asked to do the 
same thing that was urged upon sinners. The 
assertion that we consecrate when we repent 
is both unscriptural and illogical. 

Consecration meetings in our young peo- 
ple's societies are never held for unconverted 
people, but always for those who are Chris- 
tians. Such meetings are never held for the 
purpose of converting sinners. To still 
further substantiate this truth we call atten- 
tion to the hymnals of all the denominations. 
In these, repentance is always adopted as the 
language of sinners and consecration as the 
language of the children of God. The lan- 
guage of the sinner is 

" Show pity, Lord ! O Lord, forgive ! 
Let a repenting rebel live : 
Are not thy mercies large and free? 
May not a sinner trust in thee? 



WHO CONSECRATES? 21 

"My crimes are great, but don't surpass 
The power and glory of thy grace. 
Great God, thy nature hath no bound, 
So let thy pardoning love be found." 

Such a man is like the ancient runner to the 
city of refuge with justice upon his track. 
He thinks not of the beauties of the city, but 
only to escape pursuing justice. Real convic- 
tion gives a man no time for anything except 
escape from the wrath to come. But the re- 
deemed man expresses himself thus, as he 
consecrates himself to God: 

" When I survey the wondrous cross 
On which the Prince of Glory died, 
My richest gain I count but loss, 

And pour contempt on all my pride." 

And the conclusion he arrives at as he reflects 
upon the salvation God has given him is: 

" Were the whole realm of nature mine, 
That were a present far too small ; 
Love so amazing, so divine, 
Demands my soul, my life, my all." 



CHAPTEE III. 

COMPLETELY AND ENTIRELY. 

When Paul made his voyage to Rome a 
great storm arose which threatened the loss of 
the ship and the lives of those on board. In 
order to save the ship the sailors threw over- 
board the wheat and other articles that com- 
posed the cargo. But later they had to cast 
themselves overboard also and abandon the 
ship. This is the way many people consecrate 
to God. They proceed by degrees. They yield 
up the less important things first, rather than 
give themselves. They give up prejudices or 
habits or their associations, money, etc., etc. 
They begin on the outer circumference, but 
self in the centre is still untouched. They 
keep drawing nearer to the centre, the less im- 
portant things are given first and then things 
of greater value, but still they are not conse- 
crated, until they come to self and give that. 
Then the consecration is complete. They 
22 



COMPLETELY AND ENTIRELY. 23 

commenced at the wrong place. Had they 
commenced with self in the beginning every- 
thing else would have gone with it. Giving 
money, time and effort is only trying to get 
salvation by works until self is given. Then 
these things go with the consecration, just as 
the first link draws all the chain with it. Con- 
secration must be complete, and it is never 
complete until the whole being is given to 
God. 

Paul says, "Your bodies, a living sacrifice." 
We used to wonder why he said "your 
bodies" and said nothing as regards the soul. 
But we think we see the reason of it now. 
The body is the instrument through which 
the soul works. The soul is useless in this 
world without a body, and can accomplish 
nothing except through the body. A conse- 
cration that is simply in the mind is mere 
sentiment. And w r e have too much of that in 
our day. Consecration must be practical. It 
cannot be if the body is left out. There is 
more danger in sentimental consecration that 
leaves out the body than anything else as 
regards this question. A great many claim 



24 COMPLETELY AND ENTIRELY. 

to be consecrated who are not, for this reason. 
The word of God teaches that consecration is 
to be intensely practical. We have a body as 
truly to be consecrated as the soul. The two 
cannot be separated and be of any use in this 
world. Disembodied spirits of men are of no 
use to God here below. It is only for the little 
season while we are in the body that we can 
be useful here. There is a legal instrument 
in the courts called the habeas corpus, mean- 
ing, "you may have his body" A man may 
by the granting of this writ be brought into 
court and allowed to show whether he has 
been justly shut up in jail or not. When his 
body is brought into court, his soul and spirit 
are there too, they all go together. The soul 
is not left behind in the jail. The whole man 
is there. It seems to us that the apostle meant 
all this; that the soul is of no use without the 
body in this world and the body is necessary 
to make the desire and purpose of consecra- 
tion practical and complete. Otherwise con- 
secration is of no account in building up the 
kingdom of God on earth. When the Jewish 
high priest was consecrated to his sacred office 



COMPLETELY AND ENTIRELY. 25 

the blood of the sacrifice was touched upon his 
right ear, the thumb of his right hand, and 
the great toe of his right foot, to teach that 
his ears were to be attentive to hear the com- 
mands of God; his hands ready to do the 
work God commanded; and his feet quick to 
run on the divine errands. In this dispensa- 
tion all believers are "a royal priesthood." 
Their bodies are to be given to a living ser- 
vice. The ears are to be attentive to the 
divine commands; the hands to do the bidding 
of God and the feet to run on His errands. 
The whole body is to be kept in such a man- 
ner that the soul can best serve the kingdom 
of God. Anything that weakens or impairs 
the body hinders the best service of the soul 
and is to be avoided, for our "bodies are the 
temples of the Holy Ghost/' and God says, "If 
any man defile the temple of God, him shall 
God destroy." Sloth, intemperance and un- 
chastity are to be discarded that the soul may 
be unhindered in its duty and devotion to 
God. Jesus once dwelt in a human body and 
henceforth the body is to be prized as that 
abode in which he condescended to dwell. 



26 COMPLETELY AND ENTIRELY. 

Those blessed eyes beamed with looks of love 
and tenderness towards the erring. They shed 
tears over the grave of Lazarus and the incor- 
rigible city of Jerusalem. His ear was quick 
to distinguish his Father's voice when the dull 
ears of the multitude heard only an incom- 
prehensible sound. His tongue spoke forth 
the praises of his Father. His hands were 
employed in doing good to mankind all 
through his ministry, and when he was re- 
ceived up into heaven his hands were spread 
in blessing upon a ruined world. But he is 
no longer in a human body upon earth. He 
has gone up to heaven and we are to be his 
body. We are to have our bodies take the 
place of his body here upon earth. Hence 
the church is the body of which he is the 
head. He is now to work through our bodies. 
The world no longer sees him, but it sees us. 
He still manifests himself, but it is through 
his church. Our ears must be quick and 
ready to hear the divine commands; our voices 
must be tuned to speak forth the Father's 
praises, just as his voice once did; our hands 
must take his place in doing good; our feet 



COMPLETELY AND ENTIRELY. 27 

must gladly run on errands for God; our 
whole body, as the expression of our entire 
nature, must be a living sacrifice to do, be or 
suffer the will of God, for we now take the 
place of Jesus as the representatives of God 
upon earth. How absurd in the light of this 
truth are those isms and fanatical notions that 
slight or neglect the body! 

In later years there has arisen an absurdity 
that has captured some w T eak souls called 
"Christian Science." (Was there ever a fanati- 
cism that did not try to appropriate the name 
of Christ to find excuse for its existence ?) Its 
fundamental philosophy is that there is no 
such thing as matter, that everything is mind. 
It is the old heathen notion of Pantheism re- 
vamped. But the inspired word of God de- 
clares that we have a body as well as a soul 
and spirit to be offered to God. Paul prayed 
that "your whole spirit and soul and body be 
preserved blameless unto the coming of our 
Lord Jesus Christ." 

Another absurdity which has swept many 
weak souls to destruction is Spiritism, which 
makes a man good for nothing while in the 



28 COMPLETELY AND ENTIRELY. 

body, but makes him very benevolently anx- 
ious to communicate with the living after he 
is dead. But no good ever came of these pre- 
tended communications. There never was a 
man made better by them or saved thereby 
from sin, which is enough to show that it is 
not of God. But God wants us to be good for 
something while we are alive and not merely 
after we are dead. He wants a consecration 
while in the body; a practical, complete offer- 
ing only is of any consequence to God or man 
in its results. Christianity has given more 
honor to the body than any other religion be- 
cause the body is the instrument of the soul, 
the temple of the Holy Ghost, and without it 
the soul can accomplish nothing. Hence in- 
stead of leaving it out of the question as being 
the grosser part of our nature, the consecra- 
tion takes it in also. Thus the last and least 
of us is to be offered to God — a complete con- 
secration of all our being. 



CHAPTER IV. 

COMPLETED ONCE FOR ALL. 

Consecration is not only complete as em- 
bracing the whole man, but it is to be com- 
pleted once for all. So it does not need to be 
done every day, but done once for all, like 
any other transaction that involves a contract. 
This may be seen in the very nature of conse- 
cration. It is the marriage covenant between 
Jesus Christ and his church. A true mar- 
riage is a permanent contract between two 
parties. It is made once for all. And noth- 
ing but death or infidelity to the contract can 
break it. The modern innovation of consecra- 
tion meetings once a month is as absurd and 
as impotent as would be a marriage ceremony 
celebrated once a month between the same 
parties. In his word God speaks of nothing 
short of an everlasting covenant, never to be 
broken. He says, "I will make with thee an 
everlasting covenant." Until the believer 

29 



30 COMPLETED ONCE FOR ALL. 

understands this lie will ever be at a disadvan- 
tage in contending against the temptations of 
Satan. Until he has got the matter forever 
fixed, as positively and definitely as a wedding 
day and its vows, he will be a prey to the 
temptations of Satan, who will tempt him on 
the point of his emotions and feelings. He 
will be tempted to think that he is not saved 
because he does not feel as at some other time, 
or as some one else feels, or as he expected 
he would feel. But when he has once settled 
the matter to be unreservedly the Lord's, he 
can in the fierceness of temptation declare 
that he is entirely given up to God since that 
day, he has taken nothing back and is wholly 
the Lord's, no matter what the enemy may 
say or suggest. We shall refer to this point 
again. We can never get quite to the point 
of a complete consecration until we get this 
covenant signed and sealed once for all, for 
a very good reason: when the same individ- 
uals come to the altar again and again for a 
consecration which they expect to go all over 
again at a stated interval, they never get the 
consecration complete, because "the old man" 



COMPLETED ONCE FOR ALL. 31 

dies hard. If there be an idol we do not quite 
want to destroy, a Benjamin or Isaac that we 
do not wish to part with, the temptation is to 
defer the matter until "a more convenient 
season." This is in accordance with human 
nature: to put off disagreeable things as long 
as possible. The "old man" will put off entire 
consecration just as long as he can because it 
means death to him. We have heard leaders 
at camp meeting ask all who would consecrate 
themselves to God "for this camp meeting/' 
to come to the altar for that purpose. How 
about the next week when the camp meeting 
is over? how about the time when the pro- 
tracted meeting ceases? ought we not to be en- 
tirely the Lord's all the time? Is it not pre- 
sumption to even suggest the idea that God 
will accept short-time consecration? And yet 
there are many churches who feel the need of 
the Holy Ghost for the winter revival season, 
who consecrate for that brief period, as they 
suppose, but it is only a religious spasm and 
not a scriptural consecration. 

But it has been asked, "How shall we know 
when we have made this complete consecra- 



32 COMPLETED ONCE FOR ALL. 

tion?" We reply, when we have given our- 
selves to God the very best we know and are 
so anxious to give all we do not know, that we 
would be real glad to have God tell us what 
more we can be or do for him, then we are 
entirely his. The angels in heaven can do no 
more than to give up themselves as well as 
they know and be willing and eager for God 
to show them anything lacking so that they 
may yield it to him. When two souls stand 
before the altar and pledge their love and de- 
votion each to the other, it is not only for the 
present but for all time, "for sickness or 
health, prosperity and adversity." It is for all 
the unknown future. The part that is un- 
known is bigger than that which is known. 
So with consecration, it is for the unknown 
future as well as the present. When new 
duties come up in the future or new leadings 
of Providence or new opportunities of being 
the Lord's, we are simply carrying out the 
covenant once and forever made. God will 
give us new light as we go along. We were 
not capable of receiving all the light at the 
start, but he accepts the will for the deed and 



COMPLETED ONCE FOR ALL. 33 

opens new fields of privilege and opportunity 
and duty as fast as we can bear it. 

When the expedition under General Butler 
sailed from New York during the late Civil 
War, sealed orders were given them, which 
were not to be opened until they had been 
several days at sea. On opening the orders, 
on the appointed day, they found they were 
commanded to go to the mouth of the Missis- 
sippi and take New Orleans. There was no 
shrinking or drawing back, for the soldiers had 
taken the oath when mustered into the service 
of the United States, binding them to loyalty 
and strict obedience. Therefore they went 
gladly to the task set before them. Every 
entirely consecrated Christian gives himself 
up to go and do and be and suffer as God says. 
He has sworn allegiance to the government 
of heaven, and he is ready for the unknown 
will of God as fast as God reveals it to him. 

Here is where the "old man" draws back, 
afraid of being injured. But any shrinking 
here is for one of two reasons: either from a 
doubt of the goodness or the wisdom of God. 
Some doubt the wisdom of God and are fear- 



34 COMPLETED ONCE FOR ALL. 

ful that he may call them to something that 
is not the very best thing for them after all. 
There is an element of self-conceit here in 
thinking they know better than God. Most 
unbelief comes from self-conceit. 

Others doubt the goodness of God; they fear 
that if they give up to him unreservedly some- 
thing terrible would happen. The devil tells 
many people that if they are wholly given 
up to God, they will be treated meanly. 
Somebody will die, or they will be sick or lose 
their friends. He makes them believe that 
God will punish them for being good and 
that the more obedient they are the more they 
must suffer. There are some people who act- 
ually seem to think that it is unhealthy and 
even dangerous to be very good. That it is a 
sign that we shall soon be called to die. Their 
idea of saintliness is a pale, bloodless face, 
a consumptive frame and a soul just ready to 
depart from this wicked world. The Sunday- 
school books we read when a child had the 
unhappy custom of allowing the good boys 
to die young, and the idea is instilled in many 
minds too much that to be real good means to 



COMPLETED ONCE FOR ALL. 35 

have a real sad, gloomy time of it. There are 
people still who believe that if we are real 
good and entirely submissive to God that he 
will take an unfair advantage of us and treat 
us meanly. 

He who believes in the perfect wisdom and 
infinite goodness of Almighty God will trust 
his whole case in the divine keeping, for the 
present and the future, for time and eternity. 
He who wants to cling to unbelief and the 
self life will make excuses and find an excuse 
for keeping back part of the price. 

Some pretend not to see any need of entire 
sanctification, after a man has been soundly 
converted, and stoutly maintain that we are 
entirely sanctified when regenerated. If we 
are entirely sanctified when converted, then 
there should not be the least shrinking from 
entire consecration. The very fact that men 
do shrink from being entirely given up to 
God proves that there needs to be another 
work of divine grace to remove this unwilling- 
ness to be or do or suffer all the will of God. 



CHAPTEE V. 

NOT TO THE CHURCH. 

We hear much said in many quarters about 
"loyalty to the church/' but it pains us to hear 
very little said about loyalty to Jesus Christ. 
We do not believe in "Come-out-ism." God 
has blessed organized effort all through 
the ages, while "Come-out-ism" has ruined 
many souls. This ism pretends to disbe- 
lieve in sects, but is really one of the most 
intolerant and bigoted of all the sects. For 
it is a little partially organized sect of its 
own, that devotes itself to chastisement of the 
churches, to whom it owes all the religious 
light and life that it possesses. Had the world 
been dependent for its moral and spiritual 
light upon this absurd principle, it would have 
perished in ignorance of the gospel. The 
Bible, the Sabbath, the sanctuary and vital 
religion have come down to us through regu- 
lar organized efforts of the people of God, 

36 



NOT TO THE CHURCH. 37 

banded together for this purpose. If the 
church is not all it should be, instead of draw- 
ing off from it we should remain in it and live 
a holy life and seek to make it better. "Ye 
are the salt of the earth/' said Jesus, concern- 
ing his true people. Salt can accomplish its 
purpose best by remaining in contact with 
that which needs to be purified. "Ye are the 
light of the world/' said Jesus. And again 
he says, "Neither do men light a candle and 
put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; 
and it giveth light unto all that are in the 
house." God wants all that are in his house 
— the church — to receive the benefit of every 
experience given by him to individuals. We 
have said this because we do not wish to be 
misunderstood when we say that there is great 
danger in these days in being consecrated to 
the church more than to the Lord. While 
church organization is a necessity and mem- 
bership in it a privilege and a duty, there is 
great danger of being consecrated to the or- 
ganization more than to God. There are 
strange ideas in vogue as to Christian work. 
We have been astonished to hear certain peo- 



38 NOT TO THE CHURCH. 

pie called great Christian workers. When we 
came to investigate their special work it was 
the preparation of church suppers, the piecing 
of quilts and dressing dolls for the church 
bazaar. Many a so-called Christian worker is 
dumb in the social means of grace, knows 
little of the word of God and would not know 
how to pray with a dying man or how to point 
a sinner to Christ. It has come to pass that 
a person can be "a devoted Christian worker" 
and have no salvation at all, or if there is sal- 
vation in the heart there is no way of finding 
it out. Much that passes for Christian work 
is "serving tables" to keep alive five or six 
little denominations in a community where one 
could do all the work of God if it were "filled 
with the Spirit." We knew of a sister who 
was relating her experience of restoration to 1 
health. She declared that an her gratitude 
to God, she was now working specially for 
Him. Being questioned as to the special work 
she was now doing replied, "I am going 
around soliciting articles for a fish-pond to 
be held at the parsonage next Thursday 
night," For the benefit of those of our read- 



NOT TO THE CHURCH. 39 

ers who do not know what a fish-pond is, we 
would say it is a kind of pious gambling. We 
have known of men who were very liberal to 
the church as long as they could have their 
way, but when things did not go to suit them, 
they backslid and left the church and went 
into the service of Satan. Their excuse was 
that they were "not appreciated" after all they 
had done for the church. They were laboring 
only for self or the applause of the people. 
Had they been consecrated to God, they 
would not have cared for or desired the ap- 
plause of men. There is much that passes for 
Christian work that has no more of the spirit 
of Christ than of Mohammed. Many churches 
are run like a political machine, just to keep 
up with the others in the community without 
regard to the glory of God. Churches may 
be managed with such a spirit as to hinder 
true Christianity. Much so-called religious 
work may be done without one spark of spirit- 
ual life. We were pressing the claims of God 
upon a worldly professor of Christianity who 
was candid enough to acknowledge, "If I was 
as good a Christian as I am a Methodist, I 



40 NOT TO THE CHURCH. 

would be getting along all right." Not that 
we would have people one whit the less de- 
voted to building up the cause of God, but 
we insist that consecration is to be to God first 
and then to his visible church. Soldiers are 
consecrated to the cause of their country first, 
then to their individual regiment. Otherwise 
petty quarrels and jealousies would destroy 
any army. Jesus first, then our denomina- 
tion as the best method of building up 
the cause of Jesus upon earth. Paul says, 
"He is the head of the body, the church : . . . 
that in all things he might have the preemi- 
nence." This being true, a man may be con- 
secrated to God and be misunderstood by the 
visible church. In fact the visible church has 
not usually in the past understood many of its 
best members, who were living for God. 
Sometimes they have been cast out because 
not comprehended nor appreciated. A fully 
consecrated man is like Jesus, willing to suffer 
reproaches even from those he is endeavoring 
to benefit. But being thoroughly consecrated 
to God, he does not waver. Here is where 
some weaken, they let their fear of man or 



NOT TO THE CHURCH. 41 

desire for human applause weaken and nullify 
the voice of conscience. Instead of being con- 
secrated to God they let other people control 
their consciences and mark out their duty and 
then wonder why they have so little religious 
joy and comfort. The difficulty is, they are 
not consecrated to God, but to the people. 
Here is where many draw back to-day. They 
have not given their reputations to God. 
They fear what people may say of them, es- 
pecially good people. Sometimes we have to 
be misunderstood by good people. The church 
may misunderstand us. But our first duty is 
to God. We must be what he wishes us to 
be ; not what the church wishes always. Jesus 
and many of the best of the saints have been 
misunderstood by the church. The church- 
men of His day clamored for his crucifixion. 
And if they clamor for our crucifixion, we 
need not be astonished. A hymn is very pop- 
ular that contains the lines: 

14 Let the world despise and leave me : 
They have left my Saviour, too." 

But it may be equally true : 

" Let the church despise and leave me : 
They have left my Saviour, too." 



42 NOT TO THE CHURCH. 

Good men, sincere men, may, through 
prejudice, misunderstand us, but we must go 
with Jesus just the same and keep sweet 
towards them. We are following a master 
who made himself of no reputation. Here is 
the point where many draw back and do not 
go through to God. They are trying to save 
their reputation. John Wesley was bitterly 
attacked by his enemies. His brother Charles 
told him that he had better write a tract 
showing the falsity of the charges, which he 
could easily do. He replied that he had made 
a series of daily appointments to preach the 
gospel in the north of England and in Scot- 
land, and if he stopped at home to repel the 
attacks of his enemies, the people would not 
hear the gospel. "I gave my reputation to 
the Lord many years ago and he will have to 
take care of it now." He went right away 
and left his reputation in the hands of God 
and it has kept well for over a hundred years, 
because it had a good keeper. Would the 
reader dare to do that? Those who are so 
fearful about their reputation usually do not 
have a reputation worth worrying about. 



NOT TO THE CHURCH. 43 

Eight here may be mentioned the reason so 
many have a weak faith in God. Jesus states 
it. He preached the most systematic of all 
his discourses, clearly proving his divinity. 
His Unitarian hearers said they did not be- 
lieve it. He replied, "How can ye believe, 
which receive honor one of another, and seek 
not the honor that cometh from God only?" 
It is impossible to trust God when we care 
more for the opinions of men than for his 
opinion. Here is the point where self centres, 
but if we get the consent of our hearts to die 
to the opinions of those who would hinder our 
supreme loyalty to God, we shall surely get 
great victory. Have you given your reputa- 
tion to God or are you concerned about it 
when the question of loyalty to God presents 
itself? 



CHAPTEE VI. 

. MORE THAN FOR SERVICE. 

Another popular notion is "consecration to 
work" in order to obtain "power for service." 
This idea dwarfs and belittles consecration, 
making it only human doing. Consecration 
is more than doing. In fact doing is a very 
small part of it. It means to be, to do, and to 
suffer the will of God — all three. Sometimes 
it is easier to do the will of God than to be 
what we ought to be, or to suffer the will of 
God. We have heard old soldiers say that 
it took more courage and firmness to lie still 
under the fire of the enemy than to rush into 
the thickest of the fight. It is easier to do 
than to suffer. God calls us to both. Those 
who are putting emphasis upon "consecra- 
tion for work" do not recognize the fact that 
God cares more for what we are than for 
what we do. He is seeking to fully stamp his 
image upon the soul. He cares more for char- 

44 



MORE THAN FOR SERVICE. 45 

acter than for conquest. He declares in his 
word, "He that is slow to anger is better than 
the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than 
he that taketh a city." Most people had 
rather take a city than rule their own spirit. 
It is more pleasing to be a great conqueror, 
whose name is exalted among the people, than 
to rule the spirit. It exalts the self-life to be 
called a great saint, a wonderful preacher, a 
noted evangelist. Many a man passes for a 
great spiritual leader who is far from being 
consecrated to God. There may be a great 
deal of self mixed with the thought of getting 
"power for service," with the idea of self -exal- 
tation in it all; the desire to make ourselves 
some great one instead of possessing the lowly 
graces of a holy character. This was the case 
with Simon Magus. He wanted to buy the 
Holy Ghost power so that he could work 
miracles. He offered money, while some to- 
day offer their consecration to buy the power 
of the Holy Ghost. Some one says that seek- 
ing the Holy Ghost just to get power for ser- 
vice is like a man marrying his housekeeper 
not from love, but because it is cheaper and 



46 MORE THAN FOR SERVICE. 

he can save by it. He who obtains the gift 
of the Holy Ghost obtains him first in his 
abiding fulness, not in order to get his help, 
but from a love that desires his constant 
companionship. There are thousands willing 
to be illustrious in the church, through the 
help of the Holy Spirit, who are unwilling 
to be holy through his abiding presence. God 
is seeking lowly character. He delights to 
dwell with him that is of a contrite heart. 
It may be the Lord wants you to be a perfect, 
patient Job to shame the devil and let him 
know that God has those who are ready to 
suffer his will. If consecration were only to 
do, and to have power for service, were we 
banished like John in Patmos, where we could 
do nothing, we would be tempted to think 
that we had lost our salvation. All John could 
do was to be "in the spirit" and listen to what 
God had to teach him. It requires a higher 
degree of grace to be in the nursery with cross 
children, as many a mother has to be, and keep 
patient, than it does to stand on the walls of 
Zion and blow a big trumpet. Holy character 
is the mightiest power in this universe. Paul 



MORE THAN FOR SERVICE. 47 

declares that although he might have the elo- 
quence of men and angels combined, the 
power to penetrate into all mysteries, the abil- 
ity to move mountains because of his great 
faith, the possession of a liberality that sacri- 
ficed everything, and yet if he failed to be 
clothed with the lowly garment of perfect 
love, he would amount to nothing. Purity is 
power in itself. A holy man or woman has 
a character that penetrates and moves society 
wherever they dwell. Seeking for power 
amounts to nothing. No man ever got power 
by seeking it. And yet it is possible to get 
great crowds to come to the altar seeking 
power for service, while very few can be per- 
suaded to seek purity of heart, the real condi- 
tion of power. 

The popular notion of power is entirely 
different from the power of purity. A great 
deal of the seeking for power is a seeking for 
a kind of misty, intangible something that is 
expected to come over the seeking soul and 
compel him to do certain duties which he is 
not quite willing to do, just as a tyrant has 
to drag a subject up to an unwelcome task. 



48 MORE THAN FOR SERVICE. 

Some people think to be full of power is to be 
like a great reservoir full and slopping over, 
and that it puts a kind of gush in us that ena- 
bles us to do hard, disagreeable things because 
of the gush. There never was a greater mis- 
take. God does not want great reservoirs. 
He wants clear, empty channels through 
which he can pour himself out on a lost world. 
If we will keep ourselves clean, emtpy chan- 
nels he will flow through us to the world 
about us. He wants insulated wires. If we 
will be insulated, separated entirely from the 
world, he will turn his divine power through . 
us on the world all about us. When we are 
wholly given up to him, we will do or speak 
or suffer or be, entirely regardless of any par- 
ticular gush of emotion. We shall not stop 
to ask how we feel or whether duty is easy 
or hard. He has genuine power who is so 
yielded to God that God can shine through 
him upon the world. And many times he is 
accomplishing most when he himself realizes 
it least. Let us disabuse our minds of the idea 
that the froth and foam and bustle and noise 
are power. Sometimes they are tokens of 



MORE THAN FOR SERVICE. 49 

feebleness. The power that keeps the locomo- 
tive on the track is mightier than the power 
that speeds it along the track. The latter is 
the power of steam. The former is the power 
of gravitation that holds the planets in their 
places. The power that can keep lis from 
flying the track, that can keep us sweet and 
true to God, is greater than the power that 
helps us blow the whistle and ring the bell. 
There are many people who would like the 
power to suffer and be humble if some one 
could only know it and give them credit for it. 
It may be objected here that we imply that 
it is not of importance that we are zealous 
workers for God. We intend to convey no 
such idea. We do mean that work is not of 
the most consequence. Character comes first 
in the teachings of the sacred scriptures. God 
gives us salvation; then we are to work it out. 
We are to be first of all, then we shall do. 
Being right is a great help to doing right. 
Christ died that he "might purify unto him- 
self a peculiar people zealous of good works." 
We see here then that when our character 
is what he wants it, and he has purified us, 



50 MORE THAN FOR SERVICE. 

then we shall be "zealous of good works." 
This then is the order — purity of character, 
then zeal for good works. The first command 
is "Be" — "Be ye holy." When we are what 
he wants us to be, we shall do all he wants 
us to do. Then he can take our little and 
feed a great multitude. There need be no 
fear of our being without power when we are 
wholly consecrated to be, do and suffer the 
will of God. Some one says that "God can 
thresh a mountain with a worm." This is 
true. The reason he does not thresh more 
mountains is because there are so few willing 
to be worms. So many want to be great. It 
is only when we get small enough and weak 
enough that. God will use us. Here is where 
so many fall into the snare of wanting to be 
great. More evangelists and preachers have 
become powerless here than at any other 
point. They sought power in order to show 
off. If we would not be ensnared right here, 
let us be sure we are consecrated to be, to do 
and to suffer the will of God. 

Then we shall not be elated by success, nor 
cast down by apparent failure, because we 



MORE THAN FOR SERVICE. 51 

have given all the glory to God. God says lie 
will not share his glory with another, and 
many are trying to rival him. The word of 
God does not command consecration for ser- 
vice or to work — but to God. 



CHAPTER VII. 

NOT TO OUR FEELINGS. 

Many people are consecrated to their feel- 
ings and emotions more than to God. They 
have come to estimate their religions state by 
the amount of "good feelings" they have. 
When they feel bad, they think they have no 
religion; when they feel well they suppose it 
is an indication of the possession of very 
much grace. Some of these people think 
very little about their conduct and character 
but very much of their feelings. Whether 
they live right or not does not concern them 
very much, but they are very much disturbed 
if they do not "feel good." This is one of the 
weaknesses of modern religion. People are 
seeking frames and feelings more than God. 
Such religion is mere sentiment, and so far 
has it gone that the majority of seekers at the 
altars of religion, whether it be for pardon or 
heart-purity, are seeking more an emotional 

52 



NOT TO OUR FEELINGS. 58 

experience than a radical change of character. 
They want to feel good more than they want 
to be good. They object to radical treatment 
that destroys sin, because it requires too much 
self-abasement and crucifixion. A little boy 
of our acquaintance a few years ago fell out 
of a hammock and broke his arm. When the 
physician came to set the bones, the little fel- 
low appealed to his mother saying, "Don't let 
him do it, mamma. Give me medicine; give 
me medicine." There are many in the church 
who had rather have soothing medicine than 
to have their bones set and made right. About 
all some preachers dare to deal out is sooth- 
ing syrup. Many want to feel nice whether 
they are right or not. The result is a large 
class of religious weaklings. They seek the 
loaves and fishes of religion instead of right- 
eousness. Feeling is not religion, but it is the 
result of true religion. Many want the results 
who do not desire the cause — salvation. Here 
is the great vantage ground of Satan. He 
harasses many good people right at this point 
and gets the advantage over them and de- 
stroys their souls. Perhaps there is no more 



54 NOT TO OUR PEELINGS. 

common form of Satanic attack than right 
here. It is not too much to say that every 
Christian has had more or less trouble right 
at this point. The will is the only possession 
that man can call his own. God can touch 
and modify and destroy everything else. 
Property, friends, health, life are at his dis- 
posal, but our will is at our own disposal. 
He will never violate the freedom of our will. 
He will not break our will. We are our own 
governors when it comes to the freedom of the 
will. We can exercise the power of choice 
but we cannot control our feelings and emo- 
tions. He alone can do that. He can touch 
and thrill them as a musician controls the 
strings of his instrument. Hence the control 
of the will belongs to us. The state of our 
emotions and feelings belongs to him. It is 
our business to be firm in our determination 
to be entirely his and he will give us joy and 
peace or allow "heaviness through manifold 
temptations/' to suit himself. 

This is the last thing that many people give 
up who are trying to consecrate themselves to 
God. It is a common experience to hear peo- 



NOT TO OUR FEELINGS. 55 

pie say, "I am all the Lord's but I do not feel 
any different." This very expression goes to 
prove that they are not wholly given up to 
God. If they were wholly given to him, they 
would be given up in the matter of their emo- 
tions, frames and feelings. When wholly 
given up to God, we shall be content to feel as 
he wishes. The desire for some remarkable 
manifestation in our experience comes from a 
wilfulness, whereby we desire our own way 
instead of God's way. Many people linger 
about our altars seeking justification or entire 
sanctification who never obtain either because 
they want God to come to their terms and 
save them in their way and not in his way. 
And such people, although they may think 
they have consecrated a great many things to 
the Lord, are leagues distant from entire con- 
secration because they have not given their 
feelings to him. Reader, if you have been 
seeking in vain "the fulness of the blessing" 
stop and ask yourself if the cause of your- fail- 
ure is not because you have expected God to 
save you in your own way instead of allowing 
him to save you in his way. 



56 NOT TO OUR FEELINGS. 

Taking this view of consecration we shall 
have great vantage ground to withstand the 
attacks of Satan. When he tells ns that we 
do not feel as we should, we can reply, "I be- 
long wholly to the Lord." When he asserts 
that we do not feel like other people, we can 
maintain that we "belong to the Lord 
wholly/' and that we accept none of his sug- 
gestions and believe none of his insinuations: 
that he must bring forth facts or we will not 
believe him. Keep declaring and maintain- 
ing, "I belong to God," no matter what may 
be your feelings or fancies. Go by your facts. 
You have made a covenant with God and 
have taken nothing back and are keeping 
your part of the contract the best you know. 
Act just as people do in the business world. 
They do. not successfully do business on their 
feelings, but on their facts. A man who has 
sufficient money in the bank but stops his 
business because he feels poor is a fool. And 
are people much better who have truly given 
all to God and then allow the devil to per- 
suade them to cast away their confidence be- 
cause they do not feel after a certain way or 



NOT TO OUR FEELINGS. 57 

manner! It is time people were taught to 
estimate the degree of their religion, not by 
their feelings, but by the spirit in which they 
endure the trials of life. We have dwelt at 
length on this point because here is the turn- 
ing point in the spiritual experience of thou- 
sands. No man ever becomes a perfect Chris- 
tian until he has learned the happy method 
of maintaining his contract in spite of his feel- 
ings. The way to become established is to let 
this become a habit. 

Let no one suppose that we discount or dis- 
approve of a religion of the emotions. We 
believe in and enjoy such a religious experi- 
ence, but we enjoy it, not because we seek to 
be happy, but because we have the salvation 
from which flows the joy of the Holy Ghost. 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

WITH CERTAINTY. 

"But how may I know when I am wholly 
consecrated to God?" is the question often 
asked. There are many who do not know 
whether they are entirely the Lord's or not. 
There is so such uncertainty in some quarters 
that it has actually voiced itself in this query 
of a hymn, 

" Am I His, or am I not?" 

We once asked a sister coming from a service 
if she was wholly the Lord's. The reply was, 
"I do not know." Being told that this was a 
matter that she ought to know for herself, she 
said, "Ask our minister." 

A wholly consecrated soul will know that 
it is a fact without having to ask preacher, 
priest or bishop. If we do not know that we 
are wholly the Lord's, we are not wholly the 
Lord's. He who has settled this matter knows 

58 



WITH CERTAINTY. 59 

it, just as really as lie knows anything in this 
world. He has two witnesses to his consecra- 
tion. 

First, he has the witness of his own spirit — 
the consciousness that the matter is forever 
settled, the great transaction is done. We 
know this the same way that we know we 
have decided on any other transaction. If we 
have been in doubt about buying a piece of 
property, but have finally decided to purchase 
it and announce ourselves as ready and willing 
to fulfil all the conditions and lay the money 
down, we know we have done it. If there are 
future conditions which we cannot now fulfil 
and are not required of us until some future 
time, if we have decided in advance to fulfil 
them, we know we have thus decided. And 
if we give ourselves thus to God — all we 
know and all we do not know — we certainly 
know we have done it. Consecration is a 
business transaction between us and God. 
Any one who knows how to do honest busi- 
ness, knows how to consecrate himself to God. 
And no one yet ever honestly made the full 
covenant with God, no matter if he did it 



60 WITH CERTAINTY. 

without any emotion, just as he would do any- 
business with a party in whom he had confi- 
dence, without finding it to be the gateway to 
a new, richer and more glorious experience. 
Second, we may know it by the testimony 
of the Holy Spirit. The object and end of 
consecration being entire sanctification (see 
next chapter), the latter should follow as soon 
as the consecration is made complete. To this 
work of entire sanctification the Holy Spirit 
witnesses. Thus he becomes a witness, not 
only to our entire sanctification, but naturally 
also to our consecration which precedes it. 
Consecration is our work; to this we have the 
direct witness of our own spirit. Sanctifica- 
tion is God's work to which he witnesses, and 
in thus witnessing to his own work, he wit- 
nesses to ours, for he cannot sanctify us till 
we are wholly consecrated. This is the com- 
pleteness of the test. The first evidence (of 
our own spirit) must be supplemented by the 
testimony of the Holy Spirit. To think we 
had the testimony of our spirit, without the 
testimony of the Holy Spirit, is presumption 
based upon self-deception. To think we have 



WITH CERTAINTY. 61 

the testimony of the Spirit, on account of 
some feeling or emotion, if we have not the 
testimony of our own spirit that we have 
given ourselves to God, is fanaticism. It is 
the office of the Holy Spirit to witness to 
every instalment of grace that is given. Jesus 
said that the Holy Spirit was not only the 
Comforter, but the Comforter that witnesses. 
When Daguerre was perfecting the process of 
portrait making by means of the camera, 
which has revolutionized that art, he found it 
impossible to retain the picture upon the glass 
slide. As soon as it was drawn out into the 
light, the picture vanished. After experi- 
menting for a time he spread a coating of 
chemicals upon the glass and then drew it out 
in a dark slide, and in a dark closet with other 
chemicals fixed the image on the glass to stay. 
There are a great many who waver in their 
consecration. They get there and stay a little 
while and then recede. What we need to do 
is to wait until God comes, sanctifies and seals 
us by the witness of the Spirit and enables us 
to make our consecration permanent. When 
Abraham made his covenant, he sat down and 



62 WITH CERTAINTY. 

watched it, keeping away the unclean birds 
until the burning lamp and smoking furnace 
attested by their appearance that the sacrifice 
was accepted and hence complete. So Paul 
says we are to present our bodies a living sacri- 
fice in order that we "may prove what is that 
good and acceptable and perfect will of God." 
When we get this divine proof from God by 
the witnessing Spirit, then we know that the 
consecration is complete. 

Many are confused over the witness of the 
Spirit. Some are looking for great manifesta- 
tions of glory, rapturous visions, etc. But the 
witness of the Spirit is an inward persuasion, 
wrought by the Holy Spirit, that the 
work is complete. It may have no great, 
miraculous manifestations at all. This is in- 
describable. It is the white stone with the 
new name which no man can read save he who 
possesses it. Until we have this comfortable 
persuasion, we can never be sure that we are 
wholly consecrated to God. Header, if you 
have not yet "proved what is that good and 
acceptable and perfect will of God," it is 
surely because you have not given up to him 



WITH CERTAINTY. 63 

wholly. You are holding on to something. 
If you do not know what it is, then guess at it 
and ask God to help you in your conjecture. 
If you are honest he will show you, if you are 
real anxious to know. 

Many are not wholly consecrated because 
they are seeking a blessing merely; others be- 
cause they have marked out a certain way for 
God to come and bless them — in their way in- 
stead of his way. Some are thinking their 
consecration will buy sanctification and are 
trying to be saved by its merit. Very many 
are not consecrated because they fear what 
the people will say. They are trying to take 
care of their reputation themselves instead of 
giving it to God. Very few are willing to be 
of no reputation for Jesus' sake. If the holy 
fire has not yet fallen upon the sacrifice, find 
out at what point you have failed to put it all 
on the altar. If you really want to know at 
any cost, the Spirit will surely tell you. "And 
if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God 
shall reveal even thus unto you." 



CHAPTEK IX. 

FOK A PURPOSE. 

When God commands sinners to repent it 
is always for a definite purpose — that their 
sins may be forgiven, and he cannot con- 
sistently forgive sins unless there is real re- 
pentance. Peter said on the day of Pentecost, 
"Repent and be baptized every one of you for 
the remission of sins." Another day he said 
to the assembled multitude, "Repent ye there- 
fore and be converted, that your sins may be 
blotted out." We have shown in a previous 
chapter that repentance is no more the duty 
of a sinner than consecration is the duty of the 
child of God. And the consecration of the 
child of God is as truly for a definite purpose 
as is the repentance of the sinner. The sinner 
repents in order to be pardoned. The child of 
God consecrates in order to be entirely sancti- 
fied — completely conformed to the will and 
image of God. When we are entirely conse- 

64 



FQR A PURPOSE. 65 

crated to God then lie entirely sanctifies us, 
because it is impossible to conceive of any- 
thing or person belonging wholly to God and 
being impure. He has no impurity in his 
possession. All that is his is free from sin. 

This is the reason so many people 
consecrate and consecrate (as they think 
they do) and it amounts to nothing. They 
get no uplift in their experience, no 
victory. Their consecration amounts to 
nothing. They do not have heart-purity as 
the definite end and purpose of their con- 
secration. We find that talk of consecration 
is very popular to-day, but talk about en- 
tire sanctification is very unpopular. It is 
very common to hear people say, "I am wholly 
the Lord's, I am consecrated but I am not 
sanctified." There seems to be a delight, a 
kind of glorying in what they have done, but 
a hesitation to say anything about what God 
has done. It is as much as to say, "I have 
done it all. God has not done his part." 
Much of the talk about consecration is only 
self-glorification. This is the reason that con- 
secration meetings are popular, while holiness 



66 FOR A PURPOSE. 

meetings are unpopular. The carnal nature 
delights in what we do, but shrinks from that 
act of God whereby he makes us holy, because 
it means death to the old man. If the reader 
doubts this let him note carefully the testi- 
monies he hears, how glibly the tongue will 
run over the term "consecration" and how it 
will hesitate at "sanctification," though the 
former word is used but a few times in the 
word of God, while the latter is constantly 
found in its pages. The consecration of those 
who do not thereby seek to be entirely sancti- 
fied amounts to little. 

We see in this light the mistake of those 
who consecrate only for a good feeling or emo- 
tion, or in order to be more successful work- 
ers. We sometimes hear it said of consecra- 
tion, "I did that when I had my call to the 
ministry. I consecrated myself to the minis- 
try." That is another matter entirely. Many 
consecrations to the ministry are simply a 
yielding up of stubbornness and rebellion, a 
willingness henceforth to be obedient. But as 
we showed in Chapter VI, consecration is more 
than to do. It is to be and suffer also. God 



FOR A PURPOSE. 67 

calls all men to consecrate in order to purity. 
He commands only a few to consecrate them- 
selves to the special work of the ministry. 
When the seven deacons were chosen for their 
special work, they had already been entirely 
consecrated to God. They were men "full of 
the Holy Ghost and wisdom. " Men may, and 
have been, consecrated to the ministry who 
were not consecrated to God. But a person 
who has once for all made a complete conse- 
cration of himself to God, and is then called 
to the ministry, recognizes the call to the min- 
istry as only a part of the great final consecra- 
tion he made at the beginning. We cannot 
see all the details, but as fast as God shows 
them we are to recognize them as part of the 
original contract, whether it be to be a preach- 
er or fulfil the duties of a humble layman. 
The object of erecting an altar and placing a 
sacrifice upon it in ancient times was to have 
a fire upon it. All altars that have a true, 
complete sacrifice upon them draw fire from 
heaven. When the offering was wholly 
placed upon the altar at the dedication of the 
tabernacle then down came the fire upon it. 



68 FOR A PURPOSE. 

So also at the dedication of Solomon's temple. 
And so, too, when our consecration is com- 
plete. Of what use is an altar without fire 
and of what use a consecration that does not 
draw fire from heaven? If we have not yet 
received the fire, depend upon it the consecra- 
tion is defective. 



CHAPTEK X. 

WHY SHOULD WE CONSECRATE? 

The first great reason given by Paul is be- 
cause it is "your reasonable service." Not 
because you can be more useful (although 
that is true) but because it is a duty that is 
reasonable. It is reasonable that after God 
has done so much for us we should be entirely 
his. There is nothing more unreasonable 
than to keep anything back from him. Since 
he has redeemed us from the power of the 
enemy, and dignified us by allowing us to be 
called by his name, as his children, there is 
no good reason or excuse for withholding any 
"part or parcel" of our whole being from 
him. 

Paul makes exhortation from the mercies 
of God. "By the mercies of God," he says. 
Mercy has so strewed our path in life with 
blessings. It has been as David says, a "mul- 
titude of tender mercies." As free as the air 



70 WHY SHOULD WE CONSECRATE? 

we breathe; as abundant as the light of the 
sun that bathes the earth; as freely flowing as 
the water we drink is the continued stream 
of divine mercies. Mercy grieved over our 
youthful sins and follies; mercy rejoiced when 
we came to God in repentance and sought for- 
giveness of sins; mercy wept when we made 
our "crooked paths and shortcomings"; 
mercy hung on the cross and died for us; 
mercy has ascended to heaven and pleads 
there for us. It has been mercy, mercy every 
day, since we first breathed the air of heaVen. 
Yet some of us hesitate and make excuses for 
not being wholly consecrated to God! We 
want to keep back part of the price. We act 
in this matter as if it were an unreasonable, 
ungrateful task, when God says it is a reason- 
able service! Is it not strange! There is 
nothing more ungrateful in the universe than 
the human heart! After God has done so 
much for us! He has done more for us than 
for the angels, and yet we make all manner of 
excuses to avoid consecrating ourselves en- 
tirely to him! 

A good many act as if they expected to be 



WHY SHOULD WE CONSECRATE? 71 

hurt, if they let God have them entirely. 
They say or think, "If I give up entirely to 
Him, something dreadful might happen. 
Some one in the home might die, or I might 
be laid on a bed of sickness, or lose my prop- 
erty or have some other affliction." How 
absurd! Will God punish us for being good? 
Is that the kind of God you worship? Can 
you take better care of yourself than God 
can? Can he not take away everything if 
you do not yield to him? Do you worship 
a God that is too wise to make any mistakes 
with you and too good to be unkind? or do 
you worship a God who is a creature of your 
own fashioning? Do you punish your chil- 
dren for being good and judge Him by your- 
self? The fact that you hesitate and make 
excuses for keeping back part of the price, 
refusing to yield up entirely to the care and 
keeping of your best friend, shows that there 
is need of a further work of grace; that there 
is something in you that needs to die. It is 
the carnal nature. God says it is "your 
reasonable service/' but by your excuses, you 
seek to prove that it is unreasonable. If there 



72 WHY SHOULD WE CONSECRATE? 

were no other reason why we need to be en- 
tirely sanctified, we could see it in this inward 
disposition that shrinks and fears it will be 
hurt, if we let the dear Lord that bought us 
have us wholly. Man made in the image of 
God is the only creature on the face of the 
earth that refuses to do the will of God. And 
the most inconsistent of all men is the man 
who is trying to serve God and keeps back a 
part of the price. 

It is a great consolation in adversity and 
trial to know that we are the Lord's property 
— his saints. He says in Psalm 1. 5 : "Gather 
my saints together unto me; those that have 
made a covenant with me by sacrifice." Those 
who have given themselves to Him, a living 
sacrifice, are his saints. And there is great 
consolation in knowing we are his. There will 
be times when every true man will be called 
to take a stand for righteousness and holi- 
ness when he will perhaps be in the minority, 
misunderstood and maligned. What a con- 
solation then to know that we are the Lord's-*' 
property, and that he is taking care of his 
property; that nothing shall come to harm us 



WHY SHOULD WE CONSECRATE? 73 

except what he permits, and that he will 
never leave nor forsake his property. When 
consecration has become a reality to us then 
it will make no difference with us whether we 
live or die. If we live, we have the Lord's 
presence with us in this world. If we die, 
we go to dwell with him in "the more excel- 
lent glory." Living or dying we are the 
Lord's. We belong to ourselves no more. 
The United States government has provided 
national homes for the old soldiers who gave 
themselves for the defence of the nation. 
There everything has been done for the com- 
fort of the veteran. His last days are free 
from care. He need not worry about his 
food, raiment, shelter. They will never fail. 
The great government is behind it all, caring 
for him. We have something better yet. The 
King of heaven undertakes to take care of all 
who yield themselves fully to him. He says, 
"Take no thought for the morrow," "I will 
never leave nor forsake thee." And the re- 
sources and wisdom of the infinite are pledged 
to take care of us. Paul was so fully per- 
suaded of it that he said, "I know whom I 



74 WHY SHOULD WE CONSECRATE? 

have believed and am persuaded that he is 
able to keep that which I have committed 
unto him, unto that day." 

44 When the billows would confound us, 
Seek with foaming crest to drown us, 
Tempests rage and war around us, 
God is with us still. 

44 He will never, never leave us, 
Though all human hopes deceive us ; 
And though trusted friends may grieve us, 
God is with us still. 

44 For His mercy never faileth : 
When the heart in anguish waileth, 
Humble faith in Him availeth, 
God is with us still. 

44 Soon will come the dreadful hour 
When we feel death's awful power ; 
Then our God shall be our tower. 
God is with us still. 

44 Let us then be always trusting, 
On His blessed promise resting ; 
Knowing sure, whate'er the testing, 
God is with us still. 

46 Give thy all unto His keeping ! 
Cease thy doubts and sinful weeping ! 
His watch care is never sleeping. 
God is with us still." 



AUG 2 1899 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 'W 



021 226 151 8^ 




Uxc 



mNH 

8H •■■•••.•■• ■ 
■ ■ 



■ 

1 k w;f ;> ;i.f . I ... +L'< . . 



RHHJ 

I 

HP 



jffiwflSJS 



^^H 



MH^^^^H 



isEtilal IWHIml fizitUua ^p-'^' k 



H 






■ 



